The present invention relates in general to a truck bed cover and more particularly a truck bed cover which is hinged at one end and motorized to open and close with a remote switch.
Heretofore, truck bed covers were either a soft removable cover or a hard cover that pivoted to open. The soft cover provided no protection against vandalism and as a consequence hard covers have replaced them where articles of value are stored in the trucks. There are several U.S. patents directed to truck bed covers of interest to the present invention. The inventor is aware of the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,885 issued to SHUTE PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,717 issued to GARVERT PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,345 issued ot ECKMAN PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,989 issused to CHILDERS PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,171 issued to PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,824 issued to ANDONIAN
Of the above U.S. patents, the patent issued to CHILDERS is the only patent directed to a motorized system for raising a hard cover of a cargo truck bed. There is disclosed an electric motor and chain drive for raising and lowering a hard cover vertically, using telescopic columns connected to the chain drive system.
Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,171 which is directed to a trailer with a pivotal top. The top is hand operated with telescopic gas pistons to hold the top in an open position. A similar hand operated pivotal cover with telescopic pistons is shown in the patent to Andonian.